1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of display units and/or crew alerting units that provide flight plan information to the pilot or flight crew of an aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Note taking for a pilot is a ubiquitous activity. Notes are used as reminders and may be taken using a variety of forms including, but not limited to, pen, pencil, paper, grease pens, and erasing boards. When using paper, it is not uncommon for the pilot to drop the paper on the floor where it could end up under the seat, thus making retrieval a chore. Another form is a sticky notepad such as a Post-It® Note manufactured by 3M where the pilot may place the sticky pad on the face and/or edge of a display unit or elsewhere to remind him or her to do a specific task at a later time. Occasionally, the sticky pad may fall off and/or leave a gummy residue. In an aircraft operating with two or more flight crew members, one pilot may take a note in his or her own shorthand, and pass the note to the other pilot who is not knowledgeable of the other's shorthand.
Presently, it is possible for a pilot use a label associated in the creation and/or modification of a waypoint for note taking; however, the entire message may be truncated due to a lack of message field width. Also, the uninterrupted on-screen appearance of the label takes up screen space and may cause a cluttering effect with the depiction of other symbology displayed on a display unit. Also, the use of a waypoint for note taking is not tied to an aural alert unit for reminding a pilot when the time for taking action as described in the note is forthcoming or has arrived.